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Federal Funding Awards Announced

Sep 9, 2026

The Center for Rural Health (CRH) at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences has received three funding award renewals.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced funding for:

  • $1,013,376 for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program
  • $243,410 to support the North Dakota State Office of Rural Health
  • $230,000 for the Rural Health Research Gateway

Renewed Projects

The Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program is a state-based partnership that works with and assists all Critical Access Hospitals to stabilize and sustain their local healthcare infrastructure. Flex is a companion to the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation process. Hospitals receive CAH designation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Flex Program also operates the CAH Quality Network and the Rural Health Clinic Network within North Dakota. This funding is for the program's year three of a five-year award.

CRH is designated as the North Dakota State Office of Rural Health (SORH), a federal-state partnership that helps rural communities build their healthcare services through collaborations and initiatives with a wide range of partners across the state. The SORH award is for the first year of a five-year award.

Rural Health Research Gateway (Gateway) is a free online library that provides access to research and findings of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy-funded Rural Health Research Centers, 1997-present. The goal of Gateway is to help move new research findings from the Rural Health Research Centers to various end users as quickly and efficiently as possible. The Gateway award is the first year of a five-year award.

Dr. Jacob Warren

CRH Director Jacob Warren appreciates HHS's recognition of the value and importance of the work CRH does through these programs. "We are pleased that these funds will help CRH to continue serving North Dakota's healthcare system through the State Office of Rural Health, working to provide resources and funding to Critical Access Hospitals, and sharing research relevant to rural health and rural communities," he said.